Interesting facts about Canada's PMs

Meighen fails to settle Winnipeg General Strike

1919 — Canada’s Interior minister, Arthur Meighen, arrives in Winnipeg with cabinet colleague Senator Gideon Robertson, the Labour minister, to deal with the General Strike. It has been running since the beginning of May to agitate for higher wages, and has grown to involve more than 6,000 workers from at least a dozen unions.

Although Robertson urges the city to settle with the workers, he and Meighen are ultimately convinced that the strike organizers are hoping to overturn the local government. They have the government of Sir Robert Borden enact legislation on May 25 to force the labourers back to work. In mid-June, the continuing strike leads to violence and the arrest of the labour leaders.